Improvement in thrashing-machines



NICHOLS, NICHOLS LSHEPARU Thrashmg Machme Patented Nov. 6, 1866.

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UNITED STATES PATENT 'OEEIGEa JOHN NICHOLS, EDWIN C. NICHOLS, AND DAVID SHEPARD, OF BATTLE CREEK, MICHIGAN.

IMPROVEMENT IN THRASH-lNG-MACHINES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 59,440, dated November 6, 1866.

To all whom t may concern.'

l Be it known that we, JOHN NICHOLS, ED- WIN C. NIcHoLs, and DAvrD SHEPARD, all of the city of Battle Creek, in the county of Calhoun and State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Thrashing-Machines5 and we do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the construction and operation of the same, reference being had to the annexed drawings, making a part of this speciiication, in which- Figure l is a perspective view. Fig. 2 is a partial longitudinal vertical section.

Similar letters of reference indicate like parts in both figures.

The nature and object of our invention is the more eectual separation, preservation, and cleaning of the thrashed grain 5 and consists, partly, in so construct-:Lug a portion of the deck ofthe cylinder-casing that the thrashed straw and grain, when driven tangentially against said deck, will be deected downward on the separating device of the machine 5 also, in the employment of an auxiliary riddle, formed by a perforated extension of the graindelivery board over the winnowin g-sieve 5 and the better to enable others skilled in the art to construct our invention, we will now proceed to describe it more fully.

Figures l and 2 represent ourimprovements as applied to what is usually termed a vibrator thrashing-machine. Itis shown with a section broken out from the middle, and comprises only such parts (from want of room to exhibit its full proportionate length) as we deemed necessary to clearly explain and illustrate the application of our invention.

In this kind of separator a long openslatted riddling-shoe, A, and a tight-bottomed grain-carrier (marked B) are suspended by rods R in a descending plane from the frame of the machine. A series of rods, 1', provided with lifting-iingcrs F, are hung at proper intervals between the slats marked S in bearings in the separating-riddle; and a tappetarm (indicated at T) is fastened to the overhang of each rod.

The ordinary mode of constructing the deck of the cylinder-casin g in this and other thrashing-machines, previous to the introduction of our invention, was to make it substantially a level plane, as in the portion marked E, and, by means of an apron-board hinged in front, arresting the threshed bundles as they issued with great velocity from under the thrashing` cylinder C. The thrashed straw and grain then falls on the separating-riddle, the slats of which push forward the straw ateach'vibration, and. at the same time permit the detached grain to fall through on the grain-carrier below, the separation of the grain being much facilitated by the action of the liftingngers, actuated' by the contact of their aforesaid ,tappets with the stops J. The vibration of the grain-carrier, aided by its downward inclination, delivered the wheat, mixed with chaff, straws, &c., upon the winnowingsieves M, where it was winnowed, in the usual way, by a fan, a portion of the casing of which may be seen at N. This mixed mass,

falling at each vibration in heaps directly upon the sieves, frequently clogged and caused the winnowing to be very imperfectly performed. l

In order to remedy this defect we extend the oorin g of the grain-carrier over the sieves, as may be seen at W, and convert such extension into a coarse primary sieve by covering it with perforations sufioiently large and numerous so as to retain the straws and coarser dbris, and yet permit the grain to fall comparatively clean through said apertures upon the sieves, where it can then be-perfectly winnowed into a fit state for market. These apertures maybe made in any desirable form-as, for instance, narrow slotted openings, if made transversely, would serve the same purpose as the holes illustrated.

Our deecting-deck, as we usually construct it, is exhibited at D in the form somewhat of a parabolic curve, the object of which is to remedy the liability of most machines with flat decks, and especially the vibrators, to waste grain, for whenever a bundle a little damp passes the feeders hands without having been verycarefully spread, it impinges from a tlat deck against the hinged apron at nearly a right angle, lifts it up, and shoots over the separating portion of the machine, carrying with it a quantity of grain, which is lost.

Were the ordinary hinged apron to be so .oaded or arranged as to be capable Of re- ;isting the passage of those shooting clumps, it would be too rigid for a favorable condition )f straw, which could not pass with sufficient freedom.

We do not propose, however, to entirely supersede the use of an apron, as we employ a. light sheet-iron one, (in connection with our deiecting-deck,) which is looped up out of the way when thrashing very long straw. This apron is indicated at L.

When by the use Of our arrangement the thrashed straw and grain passes from underthe :ylinder it strikes the deck tangentially at a point which constitutes the commencement of our deccting-curve, and is deflected downward against the lifting-fingers and slats in a position the most favorable for a speedy and thorough separation of the grain from the straw under all possible conditions; and in case of wet and imperfectly-spread bundles, they impinge against our apron at such an acute angle as to barely lift it up sufficiently to allow a free passage.

We do not desire to conne Ourselves to making the cylinder-deck, Or a portion of it, in the form strictly of any regular curve, although we nd that an approximation to the parabolic has, in practice, produced the best effect; nor is it absolutely necessary to make it in the form of a flowing curve, for it is evident that the thrashed products could be made to follow substantially any given path by the use of deiilecting-angles.

The apron for restraining the progress of the thrashed straw and grain, and the com bined arrangement of the vibrating riddlingshoe, lifting-iin gers, and grain-carrier, are both Old and disclaimed by us 5 nor do we, in a broad sense and irrespective of its relative connection and function, claim the perforated extension-board W, for sieves of perforated boards, but for otheruses and under different relations, have before been used; but,

Having described our invention, what we do'claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. SO constructingthe portion indicated at D of the deck of a thrashing-machine cylindercasing that the thrashed grain and straw, when it strikes said deck after passing under the cylinder, may be deflected downward upon the separating part of the machine, substantially in the manner and for the purpose herein specified.

2. The combination and connection of the perforated-board sieve W with the vibrating grain-carrier B, when arranged relatively with the separating device and with the winnowingsieves M, substantially as and for the uses set forth.

Witnesses:

GEORGE JOHNSON, JOSEPH G. HOY'r. 

